The BIONICLE That Could Have Been?

[Dorek]

At the risk of introducing a slightly unfocused topic...I was alerted to the first Hero Factory book today, which has some sample pages available for read. The book was written by Greg Farshtey himself, and features some mysterious hooded beings squabbling over a potential doomsday weapon they had created and felt remorse over.Direct comparisons to the Great Beings aside, what struck me most about them were the names of the two; spoilered in case someone actually wants to read the book or the preview or whatever:

Deneb and Arctur

Not necessarily immediately BIONICLEesque, but when you consider the rash of names introduced prior to the serials being abandoned (Kabrua, Angonce, Orde, Marendar etc) and compare it to the next characters introduced in the book, who are named Core Hunter and Dunkan Bulk, it seems a safe bet that these are from the name list that was never fully tapped into.So, what do you guys think? Final doom for any return of the series? Cool news for Hero Factory people? Not BIONICLE at all, and I'm off my rocker? All of the above?

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I guess they might be from Bionicle names list Greg had, but they also could've been approved for HF after that list was made. Who knows? And even if they were from that list, it wouldn't mean that Bionicle would never return. It would just mean that those two names were used for HF instead of Bionicle.

[Infrared]

I don't think that these are BIONICLE names, as one is the name of a star (Deneb, aka Alpha Cygni) and one is definitely derived from the name of a star (Arctur from Arcturus, aka Alpha Boötis). However, it does seem that Greg's inspiration for these characters could have come from the GBs, as you said.

[Sumiki]

I wouldn't jump to saying that these names were from the BIONICLE list. While they sound very BIONICLE-esque, I don't think this is necessarily indicative that the master list of unused names has been reappropriated for use in Hero Factory. It's more likely that, since HF has to run all names through the legal department, that they added two BIONICLE-like names to the list. Possibly as a shout-out?I'm not completely deriding the theory that the serials are dead for good, Greg has abandoned us, and that these names were at one point on the BIONICLE list - but I am skeptical about jumping to conclusions based on the fact that two names "sound like BIONICLE."(On another, slightly related note ... I wish Greg would at least acknowledge BZP's existence again. It only takes five minutes of his time to pop in and say "sorry, I'm still busy, but I haven't forgotten about BZP" or something of that ilk. Kevin Hinkle is on BZP, unhampered by LEGO's policy that is occasionally touted as the reason behind Greg's inactivity.)

Edited August 7, 2012 by Sumiki

[Ektris]

(On another, slightly related note ... I wish Greg would at least acknowledge BZP's existence again. It only takes five minutes of his time to pop in and say "sorry, I'm still busy, but I haven't forgotten about BZP" or something of that ilk. Kevin Hinkle is on BZP, unhampered by LEGO's policy that is occasionally touted as the reason behind Greg's inactivity.)

(He's had other legitimate reasons and I have contacted him recently. The most recent attempt - where I asked for basically just that - got no response, but the unrelated one back in May did. He's pretty busy with life.)Anywho.Deneb:Preeetty sure it's not a BIONICLE-esque name given it was used in Japan years ago for Kamen Rider. It's also still in use. ;)I'll admit they would fit and do stick out a lot from the rest of the Hero Factory names. Being that they're somewhat original. But I too would not jump to conclusions.~|ET|~

[The 1st Shadow]

Indeed, that does sound a lot like, if anything, a huge reference/shout-out to BIONICLE from Hero Factory. But, just outta curiosity, what is the title of this "first Hero Factory book?" I'd like to look it up myself and get a better idea of this.

[Dorek]

I knew Arcturus was a star (almost typing it out several times in when making this topic...), but I didn't know about Deneb =P. Interesting indeed. Does shed some light on things (no pun intended).Then again, all of the Magna's obviously have some solidly Latin roots (there was one more direct example that I was thinking of, and can't remember now), so I dunno. Depends on if these kinds of names would need to go through legal at all, really (and there have been issues of names being used for other things in the past, remember), or if they're free for use-ish.The book itself is "LEGO Hero Factory: Secret Mission #1: The Doom Box". You can find it on Amazon here and preview some of the pages.So yeah, could be entire coincidence, but the way it was contextualized did make me suspicious. So there you have it.

Edited August 7, 2012 by VIII. Axel

[Pahrak Model ZX]

Just because soemthing's used in Japan doesn't necessarily mean it can't be Bionicle-ish. "Miru" is a Japanese verb.Nerdiness aside...I see what you mean, though--the names do sound similar to some of the last few Bionicle names we were given. I think it would be nice to see a shift towards using names like this more often in Hero Factory, but maybe that's just me.

[Constructelf]

What book was that?

[The 1st Shadow]

The book itself is "LEGO Hero Factory: Secret Mission #1: The Doom Box". You can find it on Amazon here and preview some of the pages.

Thanks. That's very interesting, I must say. Now, when it described Deneb's features when he removed his hood... That interested me the most.

[Constructelf]

When I read that, that didn't sound like GB to me. To me, SM heads always looked like Iron Man. So if he was a GB, he must have been wearing a helmet, but it said face, not mask/helmet.

[Toa Zaz]

(On another, slightly related note ... I wish Greg would at least acknowledge BZP's existence again. It only takes five minutes of his time to pop in and say "sorry, I'm still busy, but I haven't forgotten about BZP" or something of that ilk. Kevin Hinkle is on BZP, unhampered by LEGO's policy that is occasionally touted as the reason behind Greg's inactivity.)

(He's had other legitimate reasons and I have contacted him recently. The most recent attempt - where I asked for basically just that - got no response, but the unrelated one back in May did. He's pretty busy with life.)Anywho.Deneb:Preeetty sure it's not a BIONICLE-esque name given it was used in Japan years ago for Kamen Rider. It's also still in use. ;)I'll admit they would fit and do stick out a lot from the rest of the Hero Factory names. Being that they're somewhat original. But I too would not jump to conclusions.~|ET|~

Man, you can contact Greg? Why don't you go hook him up with us and get the Greg Discussion rolling again...

[Jacks]

The description of the hooded figures shouted Great Beings to me, but the names reminded me much, much more of Life On Mars, since all the Martians were named after stars or constellations. I don't recall any of them being named Deneb, but Arcturus was the evil mastermind of that line.